Polio-free days lie ahead

BEIJING - China is expected to eradicate new polio cases in October when it finishes vaccinating nearly 30 million people, a senior health official said.

The fourth round of polio immunization will kick off in March to cover about 7 million people, mostly in the western regions, Wang Yu, head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told China Daily.

That round of vaccinations targets various age groups and "as long as effective vaccines are applied, the outbreak should be well curbed," he said.